Letters from a Refugee

Letter 7: From Mistalia

Uncle,

Something terrible has happened. We were attacked by pirates, they looked really mean and took anything valuable they could find. We were sailing through the ocean, the twins starting to get sea sick, when we saw another boat in the distance. It was bigger than the one we were in, it looked sturdier, like it could survive falling down a whirlpool. I asked dad what it was doing out here and he said that maybe it was a naval ship or another boat out of a fleet. The twins didn't say anything since they felt nauseous enough already. The smugglers looked happy to see it for some reason, so I thought that maybe it was a good sign. I guess my first sign that it wasn't a good boat should have been the pitch black flag with a white skull in the centre that hung from its sails.

It looked as if the boat was nearing us at the pace of a snail, that or it was just sitting in the middle of the ocean waiting for us. I had shook that thought from my mind as soon as it got there but now,I realise i shouldn't have. I kept giving the twins water to drink so that they wouldn't feel that sick, or vomit as much. The smugglers came around a couple minutes after we saw the boat, they gave us minimum food and then left. That was ok for me, I didn't exactly think the food looked clean, if it was contaminated, i'd rather eat as less as I could. Sun and Moon's stomachs were still growling after the smugglers left so I took some food I still had left in my suitcase and gave it to them. All the while this was going on, I could see dad watching the other boat with a great intensity.

When we were a lot closer to the boat and I could see the boat more carefully I turned to dad. "I don't think it's a naval or fleet ship, it has spikes" i whispered. Dad gave me a half hearted smile and nodded. The boat was huge, it had a shiny wooden deck and huge sails, it had spikes on the barriers of the ship except one place where a plank was. The thing that made me fully realise that it was not a ship of good people was the man sitting at the wheel of the ship with a rifle in his hands. Before I could turn and ask what it could be, dad came up and said one word that summed up the entire crew and our situation, "pirates." It was only one word, but it chilled me to the core, I had heard stories about these people and none of them were good.

Shortly after that, they raided the ship, they took every piece of gold, every hidden gem and anything else they could find. They shot multiple people who tried to resist, they took some of the women and put them on their ship. I could hear the crying, screaming, bangs and the sound of chaos and destruction but couldn't see a thing. Dad was covering my eyes, shielding my view of the horrific situation. The only thought that went through my mind was how glad I was that the twins were unconscious and wouldn't wake up for a while. After that thought, the only thing that went through my mind was that the horrific noises were getting closer. The noises got closer and louder until the only thing I could hear was one voice saying, "give us everything valuable you have."

Dad had no choice but to take his hands of off my eyes and look for our valuables. Once I could see, I saw just how destroyed the ship was, it was a sight that i'd probably never forget, pure horror. There were dead bodies littering the ground the entire deck was a pile of ripped material and bullets. Other people were looking at the pirates with fear, horror and despair, what did I do, I glared. I know it was a stupid thing to do, but the only other thing i saw, apart from the littered boat, was the pirate pointing his gun at Sun and Moon. So, even though my gut was turning in fear and pure horror and cold were settling in my skin, I raised my eyes and glared. Mum once told me that if you are ever in a life and death situation, make sure you do something you can be remembered by, cause there is a big chance you might die.

"What are you looking at kid" the pirate snarled. I kept glaring narrowing my eyes before saying, "I am looking at you, isn't it obvious?" The only response I got was a loud growl and him pointing his gun at me,but I swear, I saw his lips twitch. Also, I think dad started looking through the bag even faster. "Do you want to die, lass?" he growled still pointing his gun at me. I cocked a eyebrow before replying, "No, but I do want you to get away from my family and quite possibly out of my life." I think I saw his eye twitch when I said that, he pointed the gun at my forehead and hissed, "we don't always get what we want and I am going to kill you now." I just looked at him blankly for a minute before replying, "I don't think so, I mean, if you were going to kill me, you would have done it already. I guess you aren't that much of a creep after all." I was just going with my gut and not really thinking at all, my nerves were a bundle, so I don't know how I said all that without stuttering. Just as he was going to reply, dad threw him something that looked like a gold watch. He lowered the gun to catch it and I instinctively reached out and punched him. The gun fell out of his hand onto my lap and I quickly took it in my hands, saying, "go away, you don't have a gun anymore!" He glared at me before turning towards his ship muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "you'd make a great pirate." With those maybe words, the pirates left, taking the smugglers with them.

Once they left, dad started laughing and gave me a proud smile. I gave him a smile before realising that there were other people with guns on the ship. So, why didn't they shoot me? I looked down suddenly to see that my pendant was out in the open, leaving me to wonder why he didn't take that. Dad ruffled my hair before getting up and helping the people who had lost someone. Why did the pirates not shoot? What had happened? It took us a while to fully comprehend that we were on a boat with people shot and the smugglers were gone, meaning no one was steering the boat.

Trying to find answers,

Your confused niece,

Mistalia